Means of metering and delivering lubricants and the like



Feb. 21, 1950 2,498,407

C. A. FINE MEANS OF METERING AND DELIVERING LUBRICANTS AND THE LIKEFiled Oct. 30, 1943 4/ I /0 c 60 3T; v32 16 /5 2 J2 3 l5 5/ 47 63 i Z265 I /Z u 2; 42 42 6'9 /57 60 :rJ:

IN VENT OR. CAM/EL E5 0. Hm:

Patented Feb. 21, 1950 MEANSKOF"ME'TERING AND DELIVERING? LUBRIGANTS ANDTHE LIKE ChaxL siA-t Fine L05 tAn e esh ali s App1icationt0qt0ber30,1943,;SeriaLNo. 508,451

1 Claim. 1

This ,invention-relateste lubtieatineequi men emip rtiemarlypertainstora mea :Q 2 met in d de iverinalubricants.ands e like-1.

Instheoperat n oi-powet lants, me d il i quip entiitis d sir bl 3 p .4t. determined; qu ntiti s; of. llQllidS ndrvsem rs l ds, such;asdubricatingt 011; utting;compo nd-,; or rease; to; pieceof apparatuatcens q tive in,- tervals, For'examnletit may edesirable to ap ly alubliicaiiingz rease undenpmss rezt h e;Q. ?1mQ points toibet-lubniea IrOQD vide "measured quant ties 0f a .euttin ;com qund:.t t he n tter and;work: in 1- a maehineu o t e; b ie ni mmune beinetl scba eed from: tee-lev es uns en a predete mined/Se1ectflup11$ur@- Her fera equpmemhasibe mprovid d;bya h ehr-mea ur d quanti ies-of:lubx catin o 1,---re .e r o her quidtzor semi-sen :p od ects hwveab en eliver d tonnememe p intsi ofruseafi idQfiHj o t m taanegif desire m e -a s lecied;p rbtil i ap a atus S-idiSPQsed remot y qmfihezp ma xun-it: since 1fluidtdeliver conduits will be maintained; undel: i an; bie iii riabythi h: uid pressure- I is theminc em object oit eapr s m.nvent-iQafi-ther fore, to:;pr vi.de .;a simple-me hodd inexpensive means0f. au m tical y-v d l v rgep edet r 'nesiequaeti ies iquisit r nlid;,.-mater1a 10 1 or mo i ein s wa pliationatia. redet tminetiereesute1m-a ecte 0. p evds. meansewhenebv fillidMQQflWW'fifilr may-be deiv ed- 0 a plural tynf d schar e-point om c ntnali wa /an e mp nefi ionna memento nsutet ha fthe P e sure lu dupply condui s;anci't e-dssharge: condil sw rb lievedso r ssure dux n -iha eriqds betwe mein aneh teeQ thefiui -W The-p esent; w emio p eumat e: n. om is an eont mp aarthe1pm" liquid 0 1 semi dma i fr m: tnt ner; a d in com unetienmith;which pump valve means are provided-130 measure desi-redt quantities ofmate: ia d scharged ir -t e n ineaa ci i osin a, seleqtedpressure theeuppn wherebyit ma be discharged, at intervals in an; established timecycle The inventienis illustrated; by; way pf example in the,accompanying: drawings in whichzi u e 1 is a ewin d a ra hQ nei e mparatus Withwhich the p esent invention is eon; ceme ;aneL- n i at net ht p s e th v lves nd: c r ec ani m as iamate in deiiveredtothedisehargevalve, Fig vz is a-view-simiia y to Fig; 1 showing therelationioftthe parts after-discharge ef the mate; ai as ke eplace d. dr et e i e va 'tb e een disqhat e erio s ithtin e m d a e position: oftheizmeteringvalve piston; in v dotted. lines.

i 3: -a t er mma c l :v dieai n apnparatus, for practicing; theinvention with aph raliiy of dischargeoutletsm Referring; more. 3particularly .to the drawings, lflqindi cates, an air-induction pipethroughwhieh motive. fluid is delivered underpressu te, here shown, as,;ommuni cating, with a, housing- :I l i of aasolertoi dt; controlled:valve stnucture J2. This housing; has va passageway t3 therethrqugh 00m;mu ieatingr with-an air eduetionpipel4, The housing: II also isfittefilgwith a bleeder pip ['5 Which-is in communication with-thepassageway l-3.,- A valve member lfitis ,mqunfif dm-within thepassageway i3 and maymove alternatelyto seat upen opposedNalve seats l'l and i8. Thuawhenthe valve. is seatedagainst therseat :18 fluid mayfiewfrom the. pipe I 0 through the passageway I 3 to the pipet-ld, andwhen the valve-elementJ-G (is seate dhagaihst the Valve seat l-i a geversez-flgw -tof fluid, may, take- Place from thepipe 14. through the.passagewaygw to the bleedexg pipeufip The valve 1 6 is equippeawithastem I S hi hn aybe attached tO"O!T;fOIH1; apart of a core; f asolenqici; 0- en i fi 0:; s p evide s-w t eetr e duetorsi ilk he--0 dct9 5: 'Z eedfi 3 r5QL l e'9 aeie niee r 23-" I erj nciu t 2 -conn ed apole: 24 io intact-sw t h 25.- The-,opposite pele of the sw-i-tch-issecuted to: a conduetor;lfi which leadsrtpxthe other side of the s ureeof;e1e ct1;ic e ergy' 2 3. A wipe arm 2131s formed as a part. ofthesswitch and at-its; f'ree e d carries: a ,rqllex; 28 which rests-against a m ne-e mfii i bye synchr n smewr 0 h ta 29 may have'anydemedconfi ien to he;. z. mact:sw teh.; a l se iier a predetermined intervalof time and to permit the switch to be opened for a predeterminedinterval of time. This will determine the period during which thesolenoid is energized and the period during which air under pressuredesignated as motive fluid may pass through the valve structure l2 orbleed therefrom. The air eduction pipe [4 is preferably provided with aT-fitting 3| so that pipes 32 and 33 may be connected thereto. The pipe32 delivers air to a pneumatically operated pump 34, whil the pipe 33delivers air to an unbalanced relief valve biased to close b motivefluid pressure and which relief valve is here generally indicated at 35.

The pump structure 34 may be of any desired commercial type, although itis here indicated as having a tubular pump column 36 which extends downinto a tank or drum 3'! within which a quantity of the liquid orsemi-solid to be handled is placed. The column 36 extends upwardlythrough the head of the tank 31 and carries a pump cylinder 38 withinwhich a piston 39 reciprocates. The upper end of the cylinder 38 isclosed by a head 40 which carries a control valve 4| having a housing towhich the air pipe 32 is connected. The details of construction of thisvalve are not a part of the present invention. Suffice it to say thatthe inflowing air under pressure is delivered alternately to oppositesides of the piston to reciprocate the same. This provides areciprocating air motor. The column 36 may form a housing for theworking barrels and pistons of a multi-stage fluid pump. The pistons arereciprocated by the piston 39 of the air motor, and in View of therelatively large pressure area of the piston 39 with relation to thearea of the multi-stage pump pistons an exceedingly high pressure ratiois established and that the fluid discharge from the column 33 wil1 havea maximum pressure as established by the aforesaid pressuredifferential. In fact, a pump structure as generally indicated at 34 mayhave an air to liquid ratio of forty to one. The liquid drawn from thecontainer 31 is discharged through a pipe 42. The pipe 42 connects withthe relief valve 35. The relief valve is used commonly in connectionwith high pressure fluid conduits to relieve pressure in a line when amotivating fluid pressure is interrupted. A structure of this typeincludes an outer housing 43 having an intermediate wall thereinindicated at 44 through which a relatively small passageway 45 isformed. The upper end of this passageway provides a valve seat 46 upon.which a valve ball 4! may rest. The portion of the housing 43 below thewall 44 is formed with a transverse passageway 48 with which the opening45 communicates. This passageway is also in communication with the pumpdischarge pipe 42. A pipe 49 also connects with the passageway 48 sothat the liquid or semisolid dis-charged from the pump may be forcedthrough the pipe 42, the passageway 48, and the pipe 49. The pipe 49communicates with a metering valve 55 from which the liquid or semisolidis finally discharged in a predetermined quantity and under apredetermined pressure. The housing 43 of the relief valve 35 iscylindrical above the partition 44 and receives a plunger 5| which isfree to reciprocate within the cylindrical portion of the housing. Thisplunger carries a r piston rod 62.

4! exposed to the liquid pressure through the opening is many times lessthan the area of the plunger 5| which is exposed to the motive air underpressure delivered through the pipe 33. By this arrangement the liquidfrom the pump 34 may be forced directly to the metering valve aspressure of air in pipe 33 is imposed upon the plunger 5| to hold thevalve ball 41 on its seat, and to permit the pressure of the liquidpassing to the metering valve to lift the valve 41 when the air pressureis relieved in pipe 33. It will be obvious therefore that when motivefluid is delivered to the relief valve 35 the valve will be biased andclosed. The cylinder of the housing 43 is fitted with a return pipe 53which extends into the container 31 and will return the liquid whichpasses through the opening 45 and beneath the valve ball 41.

The metering valve is generally indicated as including an outercylindrical housing 54 which has a threaded opening 55 in its side wallto receive the end of the pipe 49. The housing forms a barrel having acylindrical bore 55 with the upper end of which opening 55 communicates.The lower end of the housing is fitted with a central tubular valve seat57 having a discharge opening 58 therethrough. Mounted within the bore56 above the valve seat 5! is a valve disc 59 which has scalloped edgesto permit fluid to pass around the disc and an imperforate centerportion adapted to abut against and fit over the end of the tubularvalve seat 51. A spring 60 tends to hold the valve disc 59 from itsseat. Reciprocating within the bore 56 is a piston 6i having a rod 52extending upwardly therefrom. This piston fits the bore 55 with a loosefit so that liquid under pressure may bypass the piston. Attention isalso directed to the fact that the face of the piston contiguous to therod 62 forms a square shoulder against which the pressure of the liquiddelivered to the valve housing may impose force. Mounted in the upperend of the valve barrel 54 is a threaded plug 63 having a centralpassageway therethrough to receive the The upper end of the passagewayis threaded and carries an adjusting screw 64 by which the stroke of.the piston is regulated, and thus the volume of liquid within the valvebarrel 54 may be measured. Suitable packing 65 is mounted within theupper end of the valve barrel and around the piston. It is to beunderstood that while one valve 50 is shown, that the pipe 44 might beconnected to a manifold to which a plurality of metering valves 50 areattached, so

r that measured quantities of liquid from a tank 37 might be dischargedsimultaneously through a plurality of said valves at different points,as required. Attention is directed particularly to the function andimportance of the metering valve 50 in the operation of the presentapparatus. Contrary to the operation of devices in which a directdischarge of fluid from pipe 49 is effected by pressure imposed throughoperation of pump 34, in this device a quantity of fluid is dischargedfrom the metering valve 50 and a new charge is forced into the meteringvalve immediately following the discharge and before the delivery ofmotive fluid is interrupted by valve structure l2. The timing structure,including switch 25 and timing cam 29, have an appreciable'time lagafter the discharge of the metering valve to permit the metering valvesequence and to cause a necessary pressure to be built upinthe pipe 43and the passageway 48 -so that when motive pressure is relieved from thepiston 5|"of the relief valve 35 the pipe 53 and back into the container3'1. -tention' is directed to -the fact that-all'of the con- I when thesolenoid is .de-energized. event it will bEzllIldI'StOOd that a suitablespring .within. its cylinder. iliqui'dffrom the container"?! Will beforced-out the valve will open. "This insures thatthermeten ing valvewill be discharged and refilled=and=that surplus liquid 'will be ventedthereafter through duits areofsu'flicient strength to withstand thefluid-pressure imposed :by the pump 3'4 and as limited by theestablished ratio' betweenl'the piston3 9 and the piston within column36.

In operation of the present a invention the container $31 supplied with:a 'quantity of a liquid or semi solidzmaterialito be handledbythe pres-:ent apparatus. .Air under-pressure is delivered Lthroughtheairinductionpipe1-0. At this time -.the..synchronous n'1otor .'3il issupplied with elecxtricccurrent toxcause .it to .drive continuously..Aitirmng carn.29:haszbeeniselected for this motor,

the team being: designed (to maint'ain'lthe electric circuit to the:solenoid i2 0 .closed for-a desired period of time :as :previcuslyexplained. "It will be obvious that the cam .-29:may"be:given a desiredconfigurati'on sozthat the valve l6 willrest against I the valve seat:I11 c tozinterruptzthe flow of air to thepipe M when the solenoidzisenergized 01' :the valve it maybe moved toxits opposite seated positionon the seat .18 to tbe thus held In either is associated withithesolenoid :and 'the'valve to move the valve 16 to anzalternate positionwhen'the solenoid is de-energized. It is also to be understood that thevalve structure l2 may be of any particular design,.and.thattheconstruction shown .in the drawing issmerely diagrammatical and for thepurpose ofwillustration only. Assuming that the valve lfiris normallyheld upon the seat I 8 when the solenoid is deenergized,. it will beseen that theair under pressure from-the pipe le willipassthrough thevalve Wardly through'the conduit42an'd intothepas- .sageway lil o'f'therelief valve'.- A check valve :32 in the conduit 42" prevents a returnfiowof the material'tothe pump. As theliquid is.delivered from the pumpstructure MT-through the pipes #52 uand iil the pressure of thisliduidwillbe imposed upon the exposed surface of the valve'ball 4'! in therelief Valve, as represented by the sectional area of the passageway 45.Simultaneously, air under pressure is applied to the plunger 5| throughthe air pipe 33 to hold the valve ball 4! on its seat. Fluid materialwhich is forced through the pipe 49 to the metering valve 50 will enterthe bore of the valve housing 54 through the passageway 55 and willimpose its pressure upon the upper face of the piston 3i. This willforce the piston BI from the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing tothe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. By reference to Fig. 1, it

will be seen that as the piston 51 is forced downwardly a measuredquantity of the fluid material within the bore 56 will be forced around.the edge of the Washer 58 and will be discharged from the valve housing54 through the duct 58. As the valve piston 6| continues to movedownwardly it will encounter 'the washer 59 and:compress tl ie spring 60until the piston has forced the valve disc 59 against the :end" of the-tubular valveseat 51 seal the duct 58 and to prevent the dischargeofi'fiuid material -'from the meteringvalve \vhile"a-new-'chargeisentering the valve and is being measured.- h-s'the =pump continues to'op- -er-a-te the'fiuid 'material from the pump will be "rorcedthroughthe-pipe 49 and intothe bore 56 "oi -the metering val-v e. Inview of the fact that the piston 6 I fits the b0re 56-with a loose fitthe iHCOmiHg filfid material will 3 be forced down and taroun'di thepiston 61, and'since the 'end face df the p'isto'nfiil is convex thisfluid will force between-theend'face ofthe piston 6i and the'-valve"disc -59. The fluid'preSsure will thus main tain the'va'lve'dis'c =on its seat while exerting an -endipressure upon thepiston BI and its rod 62 t o liitthe piston' as' -the space between theend of the piston and the valve disc fills With-the fluid m'ateria'l,which is under :highpressure. When 'Lthe .piston fii has been movedupwardly to the pointed-here:the pist'0nrod 62 :encounters the ad- 'ju'stingscrew fi 45a 'predeterminedmeasured quantity 1 off1uid::materi'al will fill the space between the seated valve-disc 59and the endof thepiston. The valve: disc 59 will remain in this seatedposiition until the cam Z'S-acts upon the contact switch wiper 121'! tocomplete an electric circuit from the source' 2 3 through conductors IIand l'ZZ tO-the solenoid 20. This will energize the solenoid, moving thevalve element I B from "the :seat [8 to the: seat I 1 iIt =willbarecognizedthat pi 'ior -totheopeningof the'valveicontinuedpumpingaction will build :up anydesired pressure of the fluidlmaterialin the metering-valve i 50, since this material holds-the valve disc 59.on its seat. When-the :supply of air :from the pipe 10 is interruptedby th'e energization of "the solenoid -the= delivery:ofiairunderipressure' to the pump-.34 and the relief valve 35 through pipes-32:and 3'3 nwilliaalso'zbe:iinterrupted, and .these :pipes will beconnected'r withlthe'ibleeder:pipe 15. In view of the 'factxthat adesired :pressure has been. built 'up' upon the fluid materia'l passingfrom the'pump 34 and filling i conduits "42 .and '49 1 and thepassageway-48 in the relief 'valve 35 the relief of air lpressure up'onthe plunger "5 l will t'permit'th'e -pressure of1t'he fluid material inpassageway 48 to'lacteffectively through the valve seat opening'45=to-liftthe' valve-ball -41, withthe result that the pressureexisting in pipes-"42 and 49 will be 'relieve'd;'-while an incidentalamount of the fluid material willpass through the valve opening 45 andlnto-the return-pipe 53' leading to the cont'ainer 3l; '-It' is to beunderstood that prior to the energization of the solenoid 20 avconsiderable fluid pressure has been built up in the metering valve 50.This is due to the great power ratio established in the pump 34. Infact, fluid pressures of the order of four thousand pounds per squareinch may be created in the metering valve 50 if desired. When the reliefvalve 35 is relieved of its air pressure through the bleeder pipe l5 andthe valve ball 41 lifts from its seat the fluid pressure in the conduits42 and 49 will be instantly relieved. This will allow the valve spring60 in the metering valve 50 to lift the valve disc 53 from its seat andopen the discharge duct 58. Thereafter a new cycle of operation takesplace by breaking the electric circuit to the solenoid through thecontact switch 25 and permitting the valve l6 to move from the seat I!to the seat l8 so that the bleeder pipe I5 will be closed and how of airunder pressure from the pipe I0 to the pipe 14 will be re-established.

It will thus be seen that by the structure here disclosed it is possibleto draw any fluid material from a container and discharge it in measuredquantities and in a predetermined time sequence to a point ofapplication near the pumping equipment or remote therefrom, and that themethod and apparatus insure certainty of automatic operation and permitany desired change to be made in quantity of fluid delivered or timesequence.

It will be noted also that due to the fact that the discharged fluid ismeasured and its pressure established at the point of discharge, and forthe further reason that delivery of pressure fluid to the pump isinterrupted and the fluid pressure in the discharge lines is relievedbetween discharge periods in the operating cycle, the apparatus will besubjected to high pressure strain until it is relieved. I

It is to b understood that while the cut-off valve structure, the pump,the relief valve, and the metering valve are shown as being ofparticular design, this is merely byway of example and any type ofelement having the required functionmay be substituted for those hereshown and described. Furthermore, While the flruid pressure cut-offvalve is indicated as being closed to interrupt the flow of pressurefluid to the apparatus the operation may be reversed to estab- I lish aflow of pressure fluid through the valve by energization of thesolenoid.

While I have disclosed the-preferred steps of the method for practisingmy invention and the preferred apparatus to be used, it is to be under-I stood that various changes in the steps of procedure as well aschanges in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts of theapparatus might be made by those skilled in the art, without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my inventon, what I .claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

, A device for delivering measured quantities of a fluid from a supplysource to a given point at recurrent intervals, which device includes astorage tank for said fluid, an air pressure operated pumpfor'discharging fluid from said tank, afluid discharge conduit connectedat one end to said 7 pump, a metering valve connected to the oppositeend of said fluid discharge conduit, said metering valve beingcharacterized as operating under fluid discharge pressure to discharge ameasured quantity of fluid from the valve and to refill the valve, arelief valve structure disposed at a point in the length of the fluiddischarge conand an duit, a checkvalve interposed in the fluid dischargeconduit between the pump and the relief valve and opened under pumppressure, a vent conduit leading from the relief valve structure to thestorage tank, a relief valve element normally to prevent communicationbetween the fluid discharg conduit and the vent conduit, a motive airsupply conduit for connection with a source of air under pressure, asolenoid operated valve connected to said air supply conduit, two airfeed conduits connected in parallel to said solenoid valve, one of saidair feed conduits connected to deliver air to the pressure operated pumpand the other air feed conduit connected to deliver air to the pressureoperated pump and the other air feed conduit connected to deliver air tothe relief valve tending to close the same, a bleeder conduit forbleeding air from the solenoid actuated valve structure, valve meansforming a part of said solenoid actuated valve structure and mov able toalternate positions for-establishing comrnunication between the supplyconduit and the feed conduits or between the bleeder conduit and thefeed conduits, an electric circuit including the solenoid valve and asource of electric supply, intermittently operated synchronous switch,means for periodically actuating said switch to move and hold thesolenoid valve in one position for a predetermined period of time toconnect the supply conduit to the feed conduits to thereby energize thefluid operated pump and close the relief valve, said period of timebeing sufficient to actuate the pump to force into said fluid dischargeconduit the quantity of fluid required to discharge the metering valve,refill the metering valve and create suflicient pressure in saiddischarge conduit for opening the relief valve after said period uponthe opening of said switch and movement of the solenoid valve means toits other or bleeding position.

" CHAS. A. FINE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,739,787 Doughty Dec. 17, 19291,896,036 Bell Jan. 31, 1933 1,953,222 Gordon Apr. 3, 1934 2,141,022Rotter Dec. 20, 1938 2,205,320 Teal June 18, 1940 2,206,335 Rotter July2, 1940 2,328,812 Klein Sept. 7, 1943 2,339,532 Venaible Jan. 18, 1944

